Green goddess

Behold! Natural, eco-conscious ways to get gorgeous and protect the earth

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Clean your beauty routine

No one’s asking you to slap mayo on your face, bathe in patchouli or give up your highlights. A few easy tweaks can make a world of difference to your looks and to the planet.

Face: Wash wisely. Single-use synthetic cleansing pads may be handy, but they also clog landfills. Consider removing makeup with a washcloth made from organic fibers such as bamboo. “The ultrasoft material gently exfoliates even the most sensitive skin,” says Victoria Raisky, holistic beauty therapist at Greenhouse Holistic, a spa in Brooklyn, New York. Plus, the textile, taken from the pulp of bamboo grass, is naturally resistant to bacteria—that’s good for your face and your laundry pile.

Body: Save H20. Could the runoff from your showers fill a swimming pool? Conserve water by exfoliating before you get under the spray. Some days, swap your favorite scrub for a natural-fiber-bristle brush, sweeping skin in short, upward strokes, suggests Jeannette Graf, M.D., a dermatologist in Great Neck, New York. Post-shower, pat damp skin with an organic oil such as almond or avocado to lock in moisture. Unlike lotion, oil penetrates skin almost instantly.

Hair: Beat the heat. It would take two trees 10 years to absorb the carbon dioxide you create from blow-drying 10 minutes a day for just one year. To lessen drying time, use a towel to soak up excess water, then air-dry hair almost completely. At the salon, ask for Baliage, an aluminum foil–free highlighting method that doesn’t require sitting under a dryer. “Hair will be stronger and shinier,” says Clay Patané of The Loft Hair Lounge & Green Spa in Beverly Hills, California.

Recycle: Sure, you remember to separate your kitchen garbage. You might even take pride in rinsing out goopy cans and stockpiling old newspapers. But what about the wastebasket in your bathroom? It could hold plastic shampoo bottles, cardboard makeup packaging or glass vials of perfume that can be recycled. Before taking out the trash, rifle through the tiny bins around the rest of the house, too!

Reuse: After you empty any beauty goodies that come in glass jars, clean them (rinsing with soap and water should do the trick) and use them as storage for makeup brushes, cotton swabs and homemade scrubs. Or pop in a soy-based votive candle with a cotton wick to create a spalike glow around your tub. These sparklers don’t emit polluting black soot the way paraffin wax and zinc wicks do.

Decode label lingo: What these eco-buzzwords really mean

Natural Although not necessarily 100 percent synthetic-free, these products contain some plant or mineral extracts. (Read the first five ingredients listed to gauge how much.)

Organic Just like fruit at the farmers’ market, products touting this term are mostly free of artificial chemicals and pesticides. (Usually 70 to 95 percent of the formula meets the standards.)